The president of Australia's first gay soccer club, Sydney Rangers FC, has called for one-year bans for all fans involved in the display of an anti-gay banner during the Sydney Derby.
The explicit tifo, depicting a blue-faced man resembling Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold performing a sex act, was shown by Western Sydney's supporters group the Red and Black Bloc (RBB) at ANZ Stadium in the second half of WSW's 1-0 win over the Sky Blues on Saturday.
Football Federation Australia has already served the Wanderers with a strongly worded show-cause notice for the banner, while the RBB has slammed the governing body in response for being "dictatorial."
Joseph Roppolo, president of Sydney Rangers, has urged the FFA to stay strong in their commitment made in 2014 to "eliminate" anti-gay sentiment from football.
"If the banner was racist, there would be no question of severe penalties for both the fans as well as the Wanderers. These fans are part of an officially sanctioned supporter group," Roppolo said in a statement.
"The leadership of the FFA and the Wanderers need to send a strong message to these fans. They also need to prove they have zero tolerance for homophobic, discriminatory behaviour in sport.
"Just last week a UK Parliamentary Inquiry called for one-to-two year bans on fans who use homophobic slurs and said homophobic behaviour has been tolerated in football culture for too long."
Sydney Rangers have confirmed that they reached out to the leaders of the Red and Black Bloc on Wednesday morning and have offered to meet with them to explain why the banner is offensive and potentially very harmful to football fans dealing with their sexuality.
Western Sydney have until midday on Thursday to respond to the show-cause notice.